Bike Crash from the Escape from Alcatraz that wound me up in the E.R.
Current mood: sore

Well, I am writing this with road rashes all over my body, a broken foot and bruised shoulder....Needless to say I am lucky to be alive. Let me start from the beggining.

The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon is a great race. I got to feel the excitement of over 2500 people on a single dinner boat and then jump into the chilly waters of the San Francisco bay towards shore. I thought the water was going to be a lot colder, but it wasn;t that bad. The only thing I didnt like was the fact that in the whole 1.5 mile swim, they didnt have any bouys to mark the copurse and it was hard to see land from that distance...especially with all of the fog rolling in. However, I managed to still find land and finish the swim in just under 48 minutes.

The bike was pretty difficult with all of the hills, but I found climbing all these hills a bit easier than normal. It was the downhills where I made most of my time and where I ultimately got into bike bike accident.

I was at mile 16 or 18. I was going down this downhill at about 40 mph from my last reading on my GPS. Well, there was the 101 over pass just by the Golden Gate Bridge and it was dark and shaded when I was going through the overpass. Well, I was in the aero position on my triathlon bike, going 40 mph when at the last second I see this HUGE/DEEP pothole in the road. I tried to hold on because I knew what would happen if I were to hit it. But, at the speed I was going the front of my bike buckled under me, hurling my body forward.

At this point I saw my life flash before my eyes at 40 mph and everything seemed to just slow down. I mean, I didn't plan for this to happen, this can't happen to me. But, I crashed with the top of my head first, crushing my helmet,

]then I smashed my right shoulder and I was sent skidding down the rubbled lined asphalt for about 50-100 feet.

I was slidding fast and hard and I used every once of my body to try and

slow down. I remember seeing sparks shoot up from the bottom of my shoes and just screaming in pain from the burning from the road.

After I finished skidding I was in complete shock, I couldn;t believe something like that could happen. I saw bikers pass me by and started to realize that muy race was over. Being the stubborn guy I am I tried to get up and back on the bike but I found a sharp pain in my foot and fell to the ground screaming in pain. It was then that I realized the totality of what had happened. Pain was coming from everywhere and I saw blood start tp come from my foot. My race was over.....But the next chapter had just started.

An SFPD guy who was standing by where I landed rushed to me and helped me lay down on a blanket off the sidewalk. He radioed for help and an ambulance arrived shortly after. All my pain was in my left ankle and right shoulder with burning pain all over my body. My neck was a bit sore from landing headfirst so they strapped in a neck brace and took me to San Francisco General Hospital.

Once there I was given an IV, 2 things of morphene and phenagrin. I started to feel all warm inside and a bit groggy...but some of the pain was gone. I had x-rays done of my shoulder, foot and spinal area. All of this took forever. The whole time I was worrying about Rachelle, Dale and Tiffany waiting for me atthe finish line. I was so relieved when I finally called Dale and he told me that my race number had been announced and they informed them about the accident were on their way to the hospital.

Seeing Rachelle after everything I had been through was one of the best, un-describeable feelings. I couldn't move my neck to see her, but she was there and that's all that mattered. And also the hospital staff were very helpful and nice. Even with the fact that it became real busy in the E.R., the staff there seemed to help me out and not forget I was there.

8 hours later they let me go. The x-rays showed that I had fractured a small bone in my foot just below my left ankle and that i had bruised or strained a tendon from the hard impact on my right shoulder. They fit me with a leg brace and I was on my way home.

I need to thank Rachelle, Dale, Tiffany and my Mom who ended up showing up at the hospital. I don't think emotionally I would of done as well with out them. It was real hard dealing with the fact that this was the first trioathlon that i started but didn't finish. It's hard, but I can only take this as a learning lesson and move on. At least now I can say that I swam from Alcatraz in the cold S.F. Bay.